Pay-station instrument.



n. 0. LAWRENCE.

PAY STATION INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1913.

1,142,333, Patented June 8, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

l2 "WI;

, ga I 3%, MM/

D. O. LAWRENCE.

PAY STATION INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION mu) JUNE 13. 1913.

1,142,333 v Patented June s, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wbtuem UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL 0. LAWRENCE, OFYSIXTEEN MONTANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD To C. J. GARLOW, OF COLUMBUS, NEBRASKA, AND ONE-THIRD TO "1. J. COTTINGHAM, OF

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

PAY-STATION INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedJune 8, 1915.

Application filed June 13, 1913. Serial No. 773,495.

To all IF/710211 it may concern Beit known that I, DAxInL O. LAWRENCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at SiXteenQin the county of Meagher and State ofMontana, have inventedcertain new and useful. Improvements in Pay-Station Instruments, of which the following is'a spec1fication.

My invention relates to slot machines and particularly to a slot machine adapted to be used at a telephone paystatlon and provided with means for transmitting to the central office information as to the denomination of the coin deposited in the pay station. instrument.

My object is to construct such an -.1nstrument which will be infallible in operation and very simple for the user thereof to operate.

Another object of my invention 1s the construction of an --instrument such as the above which is adapted totransmit an electrical impulse or a series thereof to the central'oflice at which place said impulses affect a suitable indicator, the number of said impulses varying with the denominatlon of the coin deposited.

Another object of my invention is to provide such an instrument which may be operated from one'point no matter what the denomination of the coin may be.

A still furthenpbject is the production of a machine such as'fthatrabov-e set forth which cannot be operated'except when'a coin of standard size has been deposited in the proper slot.

\Vith the foregoing and other objects in View my invention consists of such details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts as will be hereinafter more fully desc'ribedand specificallypointed out in the appended claims.

In describing my invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of my invention, a part of the casing thereof being broken away to show the interior constructlon; Fig. 2 IS a vertical sectional view taken 011 the line A.A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is with; Fig. 4: is a sectional view of a portion of my invention showing the method of transmitting motion from the plunger to the interior mechanism; and Fig. 5 are details disclosing more fully the operation of the contacts by means of the fibrous disks.

In carrying my invention into practice I provide a casing 1 of suitable size, said casing having slots 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 at the front portion thereof and extending from the up per edge on the top to near the bottom of the inner face of the front, said slots being graduated in size to receive five cent pieces, ten cent pieces, twenty-five cent pieces, onehalf dollars and dollars respectively. Guards may beformed on the casing at the upper ends of the slots in order to facilitate insertion of the coin, these guards being shown in the drawings at 7,8,9,10, and 11. It will be noted that'the interior walls of the slots are provided with apertures 12, 12', 13 and 14, the first two mentioned being disposed near the top of the slots and the last two near the bottoms thereof.

Journaled in opposite ends of the casing and extending from end to end thereof approximately parallel to the front and back walls is a shaft 15, said shaft having fixed upon it at suitable intervals a number of non-conducting disks v16, 17 18, 19 and 20 which disks may be made out of wood fiber or similar material. On'the peripheries of said disks are formed notches 21, disk 16 being provided with one notch, 17 with two notches, 18 with three notches, and'so on, each successive disk having one more notch in its periphery. The purpose of these notches will be. readily apparent after a further disclosure of the operation of my in'- vention;

The shaft 15 may be partially rotated by means of a plunger 22 extending through the top of the casing and guided through a projecting arm 23 in the interior thereof, a spring 24 being disposed between said arm and a collar 25 on said plunger whereby the plunger will be returned to its normal position after pressure is withdrawn. The lower end of the plunger 22 ispivoted to ashort "arm 26, the latter beingfixed to theshaft 28 formed in said arm. Suitably mounted is located approximately midway between I 43' between the opposite end of said trap which opposite ends are bent angularly to form arms 31 and 32 which are adapted to alternately contact the front walls of the coin slots by passing through the apertures 12 and 14 respectively in the rear Walls of said slots. Another arm 34 'is fixed to the trap 30at its pivotal point'so as to extend at an" acute angle to said trap. Fixed on'theshaft 15 and extending upward therefrom is a lever 35 which is pivoted to one end of a link 36, the latter being in turn connected to the free end of the aforementioned arm 34by means of a pin 35 operative in an elon ated-slot 38 in said link. The outer end 0 34 is connected to the end of the arm 29 by means of a spiral' spring 39, the parts being arranged in such relation to one another that the trap will be snapped from one of its positions to the other position as soon as the plunger 22 and the co-acting mechanism moves the path about its center of oscillation thereof.

The numeral 40 indicates a leaf spring which is provided with a struck-out portion or-projection 41, which it will be noted upon reference to the drawings, is adapted to en-,

ter the notches 21 in the fibrous disks before mentioned. The upper end of said spring is bent angularly forward and downward and provided with a contact point 42. Said spring is fastened to the casing at a point the apertures 13 and 14, a layer of insulation being interposed between the spring and the casing for obvious reasons. A wire 45 forming a portion of an electrical circuit leading to the central oifice is connected to the spring 40 at '43. (lo-acting with this spring is a second leaf spring 47 which'is pivoted in any suitable manner as at 46, said last mentioned spring extending upward within the angularly'bent end of the spring 40 and provided with a contact point 48 similar to the point 42; said points being 0 posed to one another. The lower end 49 0 this spring is slightly bent so asto project through the aperture 13 into the coin slot. The other conductor of the afore-mentioned circuit mayobe' connected to the spring 47 as shown at 5 L For the purpose of preventing more than one coin being inserted in a slot at the same time I'have provided a second trap near the upper portion of the casing. This trap consists of arms 51 to which is pivoted an angularly bent member 52 which is adapted the arm 5 to project through the apertures 12, other arms 53 being connected to said member in such manner as to project through the aperture 12. It isthou ht that the operation of my invention wil be readily apparent from the foregoing description.

The operation of this device is as follows:

Assuming that a five cent piece is to be inin such manner that the upper arm thereof will close the upperend of the slot so as to prevent another coin being inserted. The operator then presses downward upon the plunger 22 which partially rotates the shaft 15 and its co-acting mechanism and snaps the trap 30 about its center of oscillation so that the coin will fall in the slot until it comes to rest upon the arm 32 of the trap which has now entered'the aperture 14 in the slot. -At the same time it willbe seen that. the coin rests against the inwardly bent end 49 of'thespring 47 vso that said spring is swung on its pivot a short distance so that the contact point 48 moves nearer to the contact point 42. When the pressure on the plunger 22 is now removed the spring 54 returns the parts to their normal positions, thus causing 40 to fall into the notch 21 in the periphery of the disk( This allows the contact point 42 to make connection with the opposed point 48 whereupon an electric circuit is v closed and an impulse shot through the conductors to the central office where it is reg-.

It will be} ist-ered by a proper indicator. understood that this impulse is merely momentary and at the following instant the disk 16 has revolved to such an extent that disk corresponding to the slot in which the the projection 41 on the spring coin hasbeen dropped. It will also be seen that although all of the disks revolve, no matter what the denomination of the coin may be, only that disk corresponding to the slot in which the coin is located will cause an electric impulse to be passed through the circuit, for none of the contact points will meet except when the coin is'resting against the downwardly bent end 49 of one of the springs 47. As soon as the pressure .of'the plunger 22 is released the spring 24 causes the parts to assume their normal positions whereupon the coin will drop into the space 55 in the lower partof the casing.

It is thought the operation and construc- Having thus fully described my invention what I claim-as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a slot machine, journaled therethrough, a

a casing, a shaft disk element fixed I upon the shaft, notches in the periphery of said disk, a spring member, a struck out portion on said spring member adapted to normally engage the periphery of said disk and to fall into the notches thereof as the disk may be turned, a second spring member adapted to member whereby an electrical circuit is closed, a coin slot adapted to have a coin inserted thereinto, a stop in said slot positioned to halt the progress of the coins therethrough and adapted to be manually moved from the operative relation to permit further movement of the coin within the slot, said second spring member having a portion thereof extended into said slot, and a'second stop positioned to become operative upon movement of said first stop to the inoperative position to hold the coin at a point within the slot in engagement with said second spring member whereby the electrical circuit is closed.

2. A slot machine comprising a casing having a slot therein, a shaft journaled in said casing, a disk fixed upon said shaft to be capable, of revoluble movement therewith, said disk having anotch in the periphery thereof, a spring mounted. within said casing and having a projection normally bearing against the periphery of said disk and I having a portion thereof pro adapted to enter said notch, a second spring mounted within the casin to be normally held from contact with said first spring and 'ected into said coin slot, means to prevent normal free movement of a coin through the slot and to be capable of manual operation to allow movement of the coin to -a position to contact with said second spring member, and all of said parts so arranged that the cona-point to be contacted vby said first spring member causes movement of this member to a point to be contacted by said first spring member as the projection thereof enters the notch of said disk and to thereby establish an electrical circuit, and means for rotating said disk to cause movement of the projection into and from said notch.

I '3. A slot machine comprising a casing having a slot therein, a shaft journaled in said casing, a disk fixed on said shaft, said disk having a notch in the periphery thereproper points be contacted by said first spring of, a spring having a projection adapted to enter said notch, a second spring adapted to'be contacted by a coin in said slot, said springs adapted to meet when said projection enters the notch'in said disk andwhen said coin contacts the second ,mentioned spring whereby an electric circuit may be closed, and means for rotating said disk.

4. A slot machine comprising a casing having a number of coin slots placed at therein, a shaft journaled in said casing, a plurality of disks mounted on said shaft and provided with notches therein, the number of notches in the several disks being varied, spring members normally bearing against the notched peripheries of said disks,a second set of springs pivoted to, the casing and adapted to be moved into contact with said first-mentioned spring, said second set of springs located to project within the coin slots and to be swung to a position closely adjacent said first spring upon the insertion of a coin into said slot, and means for rotating said shaft and said disks to cause contact between the spring members of said first and second sets.

5. In a slot machine, a casing, a coin slot provided at a suitable point in said casing, a

shaft revolubly mounted in said casing, a

disk on said shaft having notches in the periphery thereof, a spring member, a struck-out portion intermediate the end of said spring member adapted to normally engage the notched periphery of said said spring member having an angularly bent overhanging end, a contact point near said end, a second pivoted spring member carrying a contact point at one end adapted to be engaged by contact of said first spring member and having an end thereof projecting into the coin slot to be engaged by the com inserted into the slot and thus be swung to a position closely adjacent the contact of said first spring member, and means to cause movement of said disk to permit movement of the struck-up portion of said first spring member into the notches thereof and to thus allow engagement of the contact point of said two spring members.

6. A slot machine comprising a casing, a coin way in said casing, a shaft journaled through said casing, a disk fixed on said shaft to be capable of rotation therewith, av

trap pivoted in said casing, an offset portion at each endof said trap and said offset portions adapted to close said coin ways at difierent stages during the operation, a spring condisk, 1

7. In a slot machine, a casing, a shaft journaled to the same, a plurality of coin slots located in the casing at predetermined spaced apart points, disks on said shaft mounted at points corresponding to the location of said slots, a plunger slidable in said casing, an arm on said shaft having a slot therethrough, a pin carried "by' said j plunger to be received through said slot, a bracket member mounted within the casing, a trap pivoted on said member, said trap having offset portions at each end thereof, said offset portions positioned to engage a ,coin inserted in the slot of saidcasing, an arm connected to said shaft, an arm secured on said'trap, and a link connected between said arms in such relation that when the plunger is depressed the connection thereof with the slotted arm secured on the shaft rality of springs arranged in pairscorre-v sponding to said slots, said springs adapted to close electric circuits, "a shaft journaled in said casing, means on said shaft whereby said springs are permitted to come in con tact with one another when a coin is resting against one of said springs, means for rotating said shaft, a trap pivoted in said casing, arms extending from said trap and adapted to bemoved'so as to regulate the passage of a coin through the slots,said trap being actuated to have swinging movement; around its point of pivot by the operation of the shaft-rotating means, and-means for I restoring the parts to their normal positions In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses: I Jnssn SMITH, J. R. WESTFALL.

DANIEL o. LAWRENCE; i 

